To Caress My Day

“Um, my little sister Rachel is gonna be here at the Halloween party too.” Seth drawled out regretfully, fully aware that that small information was something he had forgotten to mention a billion times the entire time he had been trying to persuade her to attend the damn party he was planning to host at his place for his sister in the first place.

Twigs was taken aback by that disclosed info before recalling that Seth had mentioned once that this very Halloween party was actually Rachel’s, and not his. He was merely being the grand host and entertaining it at his mansion instead. Twigs found it absolutely absurd how she had allowed that important knowledge to completely fly over her head when she had been too busy panicking over attending a PUBLIC function at her boyfriend’s house. Perhaps being in a room full of Seth’s colleague was more terrifying than facing one lone person that just so happened to be one of the most important individuals attending that night. Now, that she was aware that Rachel’s presence will definitely be at the party, Twigs had no idea what to say about it. She was struck speechless. Would Seth’s little sister be easy to avoid bumping into at the party, or was it inevitable that they meet in person for the first time?

Seth decided to remain silent to allow that crucial information to sink into his girlfriend, his brown eyes studying the many expressions that crossed her face to see which one she’d chose to wear for this conversation. There was shock, realization, and then concern mixed with a drop of panic. Whichever emotion she decided to go with, Seth was going to patiently wait for her to reply first…at least that was the plan. Only now she seemed so lost in her own thoughts she had completely forgot that he was even there anymore. Sighing reluctantly to himself, Seth figured he might as well get over the last hurdle and see how this conversation turned out for the both of them. Turning himself around to face his girlfriend, his face showed desperation, and his eyes were already begging for her to listen him. “And there’s more to this for me than just hosting a Halloween Party as a favor to my sister, Tahliah. I…I actually had my own intentions behind it all when I agreed to this.” He hesitated for a minute to brace himself. “I was actually hoping to take this opportunity to introduce you to her myself.” He then tried to throw in his billion-dollar smile and a small joke to ease any discomfort she may be feeling at the prospect of meeting his sister. “I figured why not now that I got you two in the same room together, you know?”

With her face twisting in disbelief, Twigs shook her head to herself while parting her lips with the intention of giving him a strong rejection as her final response to his plan before she stopped herself cold. Did Seth mean that he wanted to introduce her as ‘Melissa’ much like he had done before when she met his co-workers at the FOX Studios? Did he want her under the disguise as Melissa, his high school friend’s cousin, so her identity is still kept safe? Yes, that had to be it! There was no way he’d put her at risk by having her meet his sister as Tahliah Barnett FKA Twigs. Relaxing her face to a softer expression, Twigs looked him in the eye and gave him a precarious nod of agreement to attend the party as Melissa. “I suppose that shouldn’t be a problem. I just have to make sure I pack my wig before the next time I set out here again, or else I won’t be able to meet her face to face at all.”

Practically brimming with excitement and relief, Seth was just about to throw himself onto the woman he loved until she mentioned a wig. What wig? He shot her a frown before he realized what wig she was talking about. Her Melissa wig. She was under the impression she was to meet his sister as Melissa, his old friend’s cousin, and not as Tahliah Barnett, the woman he was in a secret relationship with. The excitement in him died down and was extinguished like a flame as he shook his head at her, rejecting that idea completely. “No, Pixie, that’s not what I mean.” Crawling back over to her, Seth took her hands and trapped her eyes to his. “I don’t want you to hide behind a disguise and a fake life of that Melissa chick again. I want you to come to the party as YOURSELF. I want to be able to introduce my little sister Rachel to the woman I’m in love with, my girlfriend, FKA Twigs, or Tahliah Debrett Barnett, whichever name you wish to choose to introduce yourself as.”

Now, Twigs was upset. “WHAT!?” She immediately snatched her hands from his and scooted back away from him, a look of betrayal and hurt on her face. They had never as a couple met any of their family members before, so this subject was a huge deal for her. She’s met his co-workers under the disguise of someone else and he met her friends as himself, but never did they ever discuss meeting family members before. They made it clear from the beginning of their secret relationship that letting anyone else know about them would be too much of a risk for them to chance! What had changed since then? “Seth, what are you talking about? I mean…” She was struck speechless again and so she spat out a demand. “WHY!?”

Seth didn’t get defenseless at all with her abrupt attitude. Instead he gave her a soft smile and a simple shrug of his shoulders as his first response. “Isn’t it obvious? It’s because I’m madly in love with you, Pixie.” He placed his hand over his heart, and then pointed outwards directly at hers. “And you with me, need I remind you.” Once again, he shrugged his shoulders carelessly. “What other reason could there be for a man to introduce a woman to his family?”

Twig still couldn’t believe he was suggesting that they take a risk so damaging like this! She didn’t know what to say as she shook her head to herself and allowed her brown eyes to dart around the room, going over every surface but him in search for something to say. Twigs seriously didn’t know what to do in this dire situation. What he was asking of her was just too damn risky for her to take! “I-I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Seth. It’s just too dangerous!”

“Pixie, please.” Seth scooted closer to her, making it impossible for her eyes to avoid looking at him. He reached out to gently grab ahold of her upper arms, his thumb stroking the firm muscles there. “It’s gonna be just fine, I promise you. Trust me, my sister and brother-in-law are people in my life that I can trust with this kind of important information. They wouldn’t tell a soul, not even with a gun held to their heads! No one will know who are at the end of that night, just like no one in my life knows who are now. I swear it!”

B-But how can you be sure?” Twigs stammered as she shook her head, her voice lace with the beginnings of a panic. “They might accidently let something slip during a lunch date with friends or a family member o-”

“Tahliah!” Seth interrupted with a stern snap of her name. He lowered his voice to a more calm level the minute her mouth clamped shut in response. “I assure you my sister would NEVER betray me like that, never! When it comes to something this important and vital to me Rachel wouldn’t ever allow any information to accidently slip during mere conversations, she’s more careful than that. Living life in the media’s eye teaches you that lesson pretty quick and early on, so she knows what she’s doing. My whole family had to learn that lesson, in fact.” As another attempt to convince her, Seth added. “Rachel would sooner chop of her husband’s useless balls then stab me in the back to anyone, including my dad.”

“But Seth…” Twigs reached up to place her hands over his forearms, lifting her desperate eyes to his. “Our relationship is supposed to remain a SECRET from everyone in our lives, remember? To protect us we can’t let anyone know about us.”

Seth nodded in agreement. “Yes, I know, that’s true, but Rachel isn’t just anyone in my life. She’s my baby sister who I love more than any woman in life before I met you, but right now, I want to introduce her to the woman who took her spot. She’s not just everyone to me. Everyone are the people I work with, not my family.”

Lowering her eyes, Twig’s brow furrowed in deep thought. She hadn’t meant to make it sound like his sister wasn’t at all important to him, because she knew she was. She was just too scared to take such a risk and lose her life with in that suffocating world of his that was the media. Her life wasn’t all that much to brag about compared to his, yes that was true, but it was HER life, and if she ever decided to take that plunge with him she’d lose whatever privacy she had before them. Twigs wasn’t 100% certain she wanted to take that risk for him yet…and yet why was she still straddling the fence on meeting his sister instead of just opting out of the invitation completely?

“Love.” Seth softly called to her before reaching out to cup her small face in his big hands to look her over with eyes pouring with his love for her. “You know by now how much I love you, right? How much my life, my mind, and my every breath is consumed by nothing but you?” He smiled down adoringly at her, his eyes never leaving her face. “You must have wondered to yourself the many times I’ve been tempted to just tell to the world all about you and I simply because of how happy you’ve made me. I’ve had to stop myself several times during small conversations to not bring you up just because I’m dying to brag about my incredibly talented girlfriend just to look cool.” Twigs couldn’t help but smile up at him at that. “But I’ve never allowed myself to go through with it because I know that’s not what you want ha. I didn’t want to see hurt by my selfish actions, but right now I need to be selfish, and I’m sorry for that.” He sighed to himself. “If it helps at all, just see this as a favor for all the times I’ve kept my mouth shut, because trust me, there has been MANY…or you can see this as an add-on for that second favor you owed me before.” Seth scooted closer and pressed a kiss to her forehead before leaning his against hers. He closed his eyes and whispered to her as his thumbs stroked her cheeks. “Please, Pixie, please meet my little sister. She’s the only woman in the world left alive that I care about besides you.”

At the reminder of his dead mother, Twig’s wall began to crumble and fall to the ground. She loved this man more than life itself, and after hearing his speech, she didn’t have any fight left in her. Silently, she gave him a nod of acceptance to not only his invitation to the Halloween Party he was hosting here, but also to meeting his sister as herself, Tahliah Barnett.

“Do you mean it, Pixie?” Seth demanded the second he felt her nod and pulled back. “Are you 100% sure that you’re okay with this? I don’t want you to feel pressured into doing this.” He frowned to himself and mumbled. “Come to think of it, I kind of been pressuring you already about this….” Twigs gave him another nod that she was certain, but the expression she was trying to hide by lowering her face was one of uncertainty. She still wasn’t sure that this was the right thing to do even though she already agreed to it. “Tahliah.” Seth whispered before reaching out to cup the back of her head and pull her face closer to his. “It’s going to be okay, trust me.” He reached down for her hand and placed it over his racing heart, whispering an inch or two from her lips. “Trust me.”

“I-I’ll try.” Twigs whispered back, looking up into his eyes.

“And that’s all I can ask of you.” Seth smiled down at her, elated, before wrapping his arms around her in a heartwarming hug. “Thank you so much for this, love! This means more to me than you’ll ever know.”

They embraced each other firmly before Seth’s hands began to wonder in a more arousing manner. Twigs smiled to herself as he leaned forward to push them both down onto the bed again, forgetting everything else in the world. When he sat himself up and began to pull her bottoms down, she let out a giggle. “And what do you think you’re doing, baby?”

Seth sent her a grin as he tossed her bottoms and underwear aside before spreading her legs with his hands on both knees to admire the color of her. “I’m parched.” Greedily, he lowered his head down between her legs to quench his thirst.